Dynasty Christmas
by Stealiana
Summary: Seriously OOC - the Warlords are getting into the holiday spirit... but what seemed like a good idea at the time ends disasterously!
1. Default Chapter Title

A Dynasty Christmas

By: Stealiana

Anubis sat up, and rubbed his aching back. _Mental note to myself- never fall asleep on the floor again._ He yawned and stretched. God, it was cold. _You'd think Talpa could make it a little more comfortable in here. But he's only a floating head, can't expect him to be too bright, can I?_ Anubis stood up and walked around the room, stretching his legs. He finally sat down on the floor again, folded his legs underneath him. He debated what to do, but it was not like he had a huge variety of choices. _If Talpa doesn't need me, and the others already have something in mind, then maybe I can go into the mortal world. That would be interesting._ The humans fascinated Anubis. They were so… different than anything in the Nether World, but definitely more entertaining. Anubis especially enjoyed the gang fights that occasionally broke out in the worse parts of the cities. _Wonder what's going on around this time of year?_ He wondered. _I don't even know what day it is! Maybe the others might know… but I doubt it._ Anubis's stomach growled, bringing him out of his thoughts. He clambered to his feet and walked towards the kitchen.

To his surprise, Sekhmet and Dais were already eating. They were fighting over the cereal box that Anubis had brought from his last trip to the mortal world.

"You've got more than me!" Sekhmet cried out.

"No way! You're hogging it all!" Dais accused. Anubis ignored them and opened the refrigerator. _What happened to all the food? I made Kale get some not too long ago._ Anubis sighed. _They eat so much that they should each be paying their own food bills!_ He thought angrily. _Just because I'm the only one with mortal money doesn't mean they should get to use it all on food_. He grabbed a bagel and sat on the stone counter next to the fridge.

"It's not fair!" Sekhmet whined. "Anubis, make him give it to me!"

"He's got more than I do!" Dais complained. Anubis stuffed the rest of the bagel into his mouth, and swallowed it.

"Give me a break! Like I would help either one of you?" He slid of the counter and went to see Kale. Dais and Sekhmet looked at each other and shrugged. Then Sekhmet started whining again and the argument resumed.

* * *

Kale's room was pitch-black, but then again, it always was. Anubis squinted, but couldn't see anything. But Kale's heavy snoring told him the Warlord of Darkness was still asleep. That was good, this way there would be one less person annoying him. Anubis was about to return to his own room when there was a rumbling through the castle.

"Warlords, I command you, come to the throne room!" Talpa's voice rang through the castle. _Great,_ Anubis cursed silently. _He's going to find some job for me! Guess I'll have to postpone my trip to the mortal world for another day._ Anubis teleported himself into the throne room. Talpa's head hovered and wavered in front of him.

"Where are the others, Anubis?" Talpa demanded.

"Uh… well, Kale's still sleeping…" Anubis answered.

"Stupid fool! And the others?" Talpa asked. Suddenly, Sekhmet and Dais appeared; Sekhmet with a bowl of cereal and Dais with a glass of orange juice. The room is silent except for Sekhmet crunching away at his cereal.

"Don't you put milk in that?" Dais asked curiously.

"No, it gets all soggy. Next time _I_ go shopping, I'll get a better kind." Sekhmet answered with his mouth full. Talpa growled in rage.

"SEKHMET! DAIS!" Sekhmet dropped the spoon with a clatter and Dais spilled the orange juice all over himself. They stood at attention, afraid to even breathe. Anubis laughed inwardly. If _Talpa has any awful jobs to do, they'll get it instead of me. _He tried to suppress the grin on his face, but failed. Talpa's voice rumbled as he continued.

"I am reconsidering the original offer I had in mind." He paused to think for a moment. Anubis asked curiously,

"What offer, Master?"

"I was intending to give you a bonus, but I don't really think you deserve it." Talpa's eyes were now glowing red.

"Master, I apologize for their childish behavior. Sometimes they forget they are in the presence of such a great fighter as yourself." Anubis bowed low when he spoke. Sekhmet and Dais both shot Anubis a dirty look.

"Apology accepted. Sekhmet, Dais, you can thank Anubis for this. I'm giving you all a week's vacation, provided you stay within my castle. And, you will be getting extra food rations and some extra cash to spend. After your performance today, I reduced the money and the rations, but be thankful you get any at all." His eyes had now gone back to the normal empty holes they usually were. "Send Kale to me when he awakens. That is all." The three warlords bowed low and teleported themselves back out of the throne room. As soon as they left, Sekhmet grabbed Anubis around the throat.

"You said I was childish?!"

* * *

Anubis pulled on the clothes he had stolen. His sub-armor was now covered and he could blend into the crowds. He stepped out into the street from the alley. He drew in a deep breath. _It's nice to be back in the mortal world._ He admitted. _Being in Talpa's castle can get really boring at it's best. _He strolled down the sidewalk. He stopped at a toy store and peered into the window. _What's this?_ His mind worked quickly trying to solve the puzzle. _Hmm…_

The window had a modest display. There was a little winter scene, with "snow" on the ground. There were little houses, almost buried in the snow, with blinking lights in a multitude of colors. Anubis was fascinated. He saw a little train chugging around the winter scene on its tiny tracks. His eyes followed the miniature train as it went across a bridge, then through a tunnel. _How does that work? There must be something inside it._ Anubis was so intrigued by the miniature train that he didn't hear the bell ring as the store door opened.

"Can I help you, Sir?" A boy no older than fourteen asked.

"Err… no, just admiring your display here."

"Do you like it? I made it myself." The boy's eyes were wide with happiness at the thought that someone appreciated his work. Anubis was about to say something mean, but instead, he said,

"You did a commendable job." Then he turned away and continued walking down the street. _Now why did I do that? That was pretty stupid of me._ Anubis suddenly decided to take a right at an intersection. He turned so sharply that he bumped into a big fat man dressed all in red with white hair and a white beard. Anubis turned very red and muttered an apology. But the fat man just laughed and slapped him on the back.

"HO, HO, HO!" The man's baritone voice thundered. "Merry Christmas!" Anubis gave the fat man a strange look. Merry what? Anubis wondered. Suddenly a little girl walking by shouted out,

"Mommy! Mommy, look! It's Sant-y Claus!" She pointed. _Santa who?_ Anubis was now thoroughly perplexed, but decided to take this opportunity to leave. As he made his way through the crowds, a thought hit him. _What day is it?_

He pushed through the thickening crowds to a newsstand. He glanced at the paper. December 23. _Wait a minute… isn't there a holiday on the 24th? Or was it 25th? Ah, I can't remember._ He continued walking down the street, but the smell of peppermint lured him into a candy store. _Mmm, the guys won't mind if I indulge, will they?_ He thought to himself, grinning slightly. _I'll be nice; I'll get each of them one._ The realization of what he just thought hit him. _Why am I being so nice all of a sudden? It's like some contagious disease I get when I enter the mortal world._ He picked out four enormous brightly painted candy canes and bought them. While he was paying, he overheard two girls behind him talking.

"Are you going to the Christmas party tonight?"

"Yea, but I still need to get a few more presents. You're good friends with Kristin, what would she like?"

Anubis pondered this conversation. _So when it's Christmastime the mortals have parties? And they give each other presents? _He looked at the two girls curiously as he walked out of the store. They were so strange. Suddenly Anubis had an idea. _With the extra money and the vacation, why don't WE have a Christmas party!_ Anubis smiled at the thought. That would give them something to do. Anubis turned into the nearest alley he could find and teleported himself back to the Nether World.

* * *

Sekhmet picked up the remote. _Borrrrrrred again_. He sighed. A day of vacation hadn't even passed yet and he had nothing to do. Dais was off sharpening the blades on his weapons, Kale was still sleeping (although Sekhmet noticed it was almost two in the afternoon) and Anubis had disappeared. _Wonder where he went. It's not like he'd be mad at me for almost choking him. We do it all the time. He knows I'm only kidding._ Sekhmet dropped the remote on the couch and stood up.

"Hmm… maybe I can wreak some havoc by letting my python loose. That'll be fun." Sekhmet muttered to himself. "Nah, Dais would only spoil it by sending his spiders after it. Leave it up to him to ruin everything." Sekhmet collapsed back on the couch. He sighed. There had to be something to do besides sitting on a couch waiting for his vacation to be over. Suddenly, Anubis appeared in the room.

"Hey, where were you all afternoon?" Sekhmet asked, while attempting to stifle a yawn.

"Out and about." Anubis answered absentmindedly, still trying to figure everything out that he had seen and heard.

"Hey, nice duds." Sekhmet snickered. "Where'd you buy those?"

"I didn't. I stole them." Anubis answered, still preoccupied. "Hey, where's Kale? Don't tell me he's still sleeping."

"Ok, I won't." Sekhmet answered, yawning again. "Whatcha got there?" He asked, pointing at the bag.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me?"

"No, not really." He answered, nonchalantly. Anubis sighed, exasperated.

"Go bug Dais, and leave me alone."

"Now why would I do something like that when I can annoy you without even leaving the room?" Sekhmet wondered aloud.

"STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!" Anubis fumed.

"Why?" Sekhmet couldn't resist asking. Anubis shouted in frustration and stomped off to his own room. Sekhmet watched Anubis leave and slam the door. _There goes this afternoon's entertainment._ Sekhmet sighed and picked up the remote again.

* * *

Anubis was sitting in the center of his room. Suddenly Kale threw open the door and sauntered in. Anubis looked at him after a moment.

"Yes?"

"Something smells." Kale said rather pointedly. Anubis sighed.

"You bothered me for _that_? Go away."

"No, I'm serious I smell something and it's definitely not me." But Anubis was no longer paying attention to him. "It smells like food... mmm, like peppermint. Definitely peppermint." Kale confirmed it aloud.

"Like I'm supposed to care? Go away, or do I have to kick you out?" Anubis was getting really annoyed by now. He hated it when they came in and disturbed him. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? They knew that when the door was closed he was meditating, which meant DO NOT DISTURB. Was that too difficult a concept for them to understand?

"What's in the bag?" Kale was now asking. "Is that where the smell is coming from?"

"Kale, go away." Anubis had now abandoned any hope of resuming his meditation.

"Tell me what you've got in there."

"All right! Will you just shut up now?" But Kale had already walked over and picked up the brown bag. He reached in and pulled out one of the huge candy canes.

"Hey, cool!" Kale turned it over in his hands. "But… what is it?" He turned the brightly painted peppermint over in his hand.

"It's a…" Anubis tried to remember what it had been called. "… A candy. Yea, and I got it in the mortal world." Kale shouted out,

"COOL! Wait'll I show Sekhmet what I stole!" Anubis looked at him as he ran out of the room. _What a deranged mind he has. Maybe he goes insane in the darkness._ Interested in what might happen next, he walked out of his room and down the dark stone hallway. He heard shouting coming from the TV room already, so he stuck his head in.

"Give it back, Dais!" Kale's voice could be heard above the rest of the scuffle. Dais stood, er, rather hung, from the rafters and was examining the candy cane.

"What is it, Kale? You should at least know what you were stealing." Dais was looking at the red stripes closely with his one good eye.

"It came from the mortal world! How am I supposed to know? Ask HIM!" Kale pointed at Anubis who had quietly entered the room. Sekhmet, who had been watching from the couch, now took this opportunity to snatch the candy cane from Dais.

"Hey!" Dais and Kale shouted in unison. Ignoring the outbursts of the others Sekhmet stuck it in his mouth and crunched down hard on it. But then he made a face, and spit out.

"Yuck! What is this anyway?" Anubis sighed. All three of the warlords were waiting for his explanation of this strange item he had acquired from the mortal world. Anubis walked over the couch and plopped down next to Sekhmet. He pulled out the bag.

"Look," He explained. "There's this plastic film over it which you have to peel off before you eat it."

"I want one!" Kale cried out, as he grabbed the bag from Anubis. Dais dropped from the rafters to get one too. After a short fistfight, Dais finally got one. He went back up to the rafters to figure out how to peel off this film. The other warlords did the same. Anubis broke a piece off and popped it in his mouth. Then he began to explain what this was all about.

"You see, every year around this time the mortals celebrate something they call Christmas. All the stores are decorated with bright colors and all sorts of strange items. There's this big fat guy who stands on street corners dressed in red and calls himself Santa Claus." Anubis frowned with concentration. "And this is the weirdest of all: _the mortals go to parties and give each other presents!"_

"What?!" The warlords cried out. "That's crazy!" Anubis nodded his head in agreement. They began muttering amongst themselves before Dais suddenly asked,

"So what's the big deal?"

"Yea, why are we even talking about it?" Kale and Sekhmet turned to Anubis waiting to hear what he was planning.

"Well, I was thinking we should do the same." Anubis answered slowly. "Here," Anubis pulled out several flyers from his pocket. "I found these in some stores that looked interesting. With the money Talpa gave us, we should be able to afford anything in there. I propose we do what the mortals do - buy each other presents." 

"Well- doesn't sound too bad to me," Dais said thoughtfully, as he flipped through a flyer. "But if we bought presents for each other, then that would mean that we're actually being NICE."

"Mmmnnfffm," Sekhmet protested.

"What?" Kale turned to him and whacked him on the back. Sekhmet's candy cane flew out of his mouth. With an evil look at Kale, Sekhmet retrieved his candy. "I said, I think it's a good idea, even if we are being nice." Dais nodded in agreement.

"Yea, I guess being evil all the time gets really boring."

"Nah, it'll never get boring! I love being evil!" Kale burst out. Everyone looked at him. Then, Sekhmet shrugged.

"Ok, we just won't buy any presents for you." He winked at Dais.

"But... Aw, come on, guys! That's not fair!" Kale protested. He looked at all their faces. "All right, all right. I guess it won't kill me to be nice for a day. But I don't think Talpa will like this…" But Anubis had a huge grin on his face.

"Don't be stupid, Kale," He said. "We're on vacation, we can do whatever we want."

"Oh. Right." Kale stood there, thinking about that.

"Ok." Anubis stood up. "Next order of business is: What do you guys want? I'm going back to the mortal world tomorrow, have everything ready and I'll go shopping for you."

"Wait a minute," Dais interrupted. "You can't do ALL the shopping. Then you'll see what we plan on buying YOU!" Anubis just shook his head and smiled.

"Of course I'm not going to buy the presents you plan on giving me. I'll just buy all your presents for everyone else." Sekhmet looked very confused.

"What I mean is, I'll buy all the presents for you, Dais, and Kale, but not me." Anubis patiently explained.

"Ooooooh!" Sekhmet suddenly understood. "I get it. Ok, sure." He grabbed the nearest flyer and began to flip through it. Anubis quietly left the room, but no sooner was he down the hall than he heard Kale and Dais fighting. He shook his head and thought, _How am I going to survive vacation?_

* * *

Kale knocked on Anubis's door. Anubis slammed it open.

"What do you want?" He demanded, very ticked off. This was the fifth time someone had interrupted his meditation.

"Uh, here." Kale shoved a list in front of Anubis's face. "It's my list." Anubis threw it back at him.

"It's almost a page long! How do you expect us to buy all that with the little money we have?" Anubis shouted at him. All morning the warlords had been in and out asking questions about their presents.

"Well, I figured that this way you'd have a variety of choices…" Kale stopped, afraid to make Anubis any angrier. Grudgingly, Anubis admitted that Kale had used his brain on that one.

"All _right_! Give me that." Anubis snatched the paper back from Kale. He looked at it quickly.

"Mmm hmm. You're all set. I'll be going in about an hour, just in case you want to make this _two_ pages." Anubis closed the door and set the list on his table. He was about to sit down and resume meditation when there was another knock on the door.

"I swear, if you knock on the door one more time-" Anubis fumed as he threw the door open. Sekhmet stood there with his beady eyes wide open.

"Uh, here. Just came to give you my list." Sekhmet gingerly handed it to Anubis and then made a hasty retreat down the hall. Anubis sighed and put it on top of Kale's. Anubis gave up on meditating and went to search for his "disguise". He couldn't remember where he put those stupid clothes! But if he didn't find them, he'd have a hard time blending in. _Hmm… _Anubis tried to remember. _Maybe they're under my bed?_ Anubis crouched and looked. _I was right! There they are!_ Anubis reached out for them, but the dust underneath made him sneeze. Then, as if in reply, there was a loud knock on the door. Anubis's head shot up, hitting the bottom of the bed.

"Ow!" He pulled out the clothes and stood up. Rubbing the back of his head, he went to the door. Dais stood there with his list.

"Here, Anubis." Dais gave it to him. "The others said you'd be leaving soon, so I thought I should give you this." Anubis took it and put it on the table. "I also came to pick up _your _list. The guys decided that I should be the one to go shopping for your stuff, and I thought it would help to have a list." Anubis sighed.

"Look, I didn't have time to draw up a list like you guys did. I was busy. But I'm sure you know me well enough, you can figure something out." With that, Anubis closed the door and pulled on the mortal clothes. Dais stood there for a moment, looking at the door. Then he turned to the TV room to go talk to the Sekhmet and Kale.

"Hey guys." Dais immediately climbed up to the rafters. "Anubis doesn't have a list."

"So? That's _your_ problem." Kale said.

"Yea, we're not the ones going shopping." Sekhmet said. Dais sighed and gently swung side to side thinking. _What would Anubis want? Whenever he sees something he likes, he just goes out and buys it, and that's it._ Dais frowned in thought.

"Guys, I'm drawing a blank. If you expect me to buy anything for Anubis, you've got to help out."

"Fine," Sekhmet complied. "We'll help as long as you come down here." Dais landed with a thud.

"Ok, let's see, there's gotta be something in one of these things…" Kale said, picking up the first flyer.

* * *

Anubis appeared in a deserted apartment building. He looked around, trying to see where in the city he was. But the windows were all boarded up, and so was the door. He moved to the back of the building. On one window, the boards were half-rotted and decayed. Anubis stuffed the lists and his money into his pockets. He then thrust his fist through the wood, the splinters clattering on the pavement. He stood silently, waiting to see if anyone heard him. When no one came, Anubis simply slid out the window. He was behind a row of houses in a residential area. _How did I end up here?!_ He wondered. _It's a long way to the center of the city._ He made his way to the street and began walking._ This is gonna take a while. And the stuff on these lists is pretty expensive. I hope I'll have enough money to cover all this._ Suddenly, Anubis saw a bright red jeep fly past him. Sighing, he continued to trudge toward the city.

* * *

"We're really lucky Mia let us borrow the jeep!" Cye commented thoughtfully. "It's the only way we can get her present."

"Yea," Kento agreed. "But can we get some food too? I'm starving!" His stomach growled.

"Kento, we just ate before we left!" Cye said.

"I know, but I'm not used to going so long without food! Pleeeeeease, can't we just stop really quick?" Kento pleaded. But from the driver's seat, Ryo answered,

"Kento, we all know that a quick stop will last for at least a half an hour. And not only that, but we have to get the presents and go back before five. Remember? Mia has to go to some meeting then." Kento's stomach only rumbled louder.

"You guyyyyys!" He tried one more time. Ryo and Cye answered at the same time,

"NO!" Kento fell back into the seat. Muttering to himself, he looked out the window, trying to think of anything but food.

"How much longer till we get to the city, Ryo?" Cye asked.

"Not more than five minutes I should think. We're almost there." Ryo answered. Suddenly Kento cried out.

"What is it?" Cye asked.

"That guy we just went by-" Kento faltered.

"Yea, what about him? He seemed normal to me." Ryo shrugged.

"I thought he was…" Kento shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Thought he was…?" Cye supplied. Kento blurted out.

"I thought he was Anubis!"


	2. Default Chapter Title

A Dynasty Christmas (Continued…)

"I swear! It was Anubis!" Kento spluttered.

Ryo and Cye just laughed.

"Kento, relax! We'd know if the Dynasty was here, wouldn't we?" Ryo said.

"Yea! Calm down," Cye said. "Besides, what would they be doing here, dressed in normal clothes?" Kento sighed and shook his head.

"You're probably right. I think my hunger is making me hallucinate. Can't we pleeeeeeease stop?"

* * *

Anubis stopped walking. Finally, he had made it into the city! It had taken him almost fifteen minutes, and that was too long for his taste. He thought about teleporting more than once, but there was an increasing amount of people and he decided not to risk it. As he stood on the street corner, he pulled out a crumpled list. Attempting to flatten it, he squinted, trying to read Sekhmet's writing. _You'd think that after 400 years he'd be able to write!_ Anubis thought, irritated, turning the paper right side up. _Hmm… a CD player, huh? What's that? And just **where** am I gonna get one of these things?_ Anubis stuffed the paper back into his pocket and made his way down the street, looking left and right. Suddenly, he heard music coming from somewhere. He weaved his way through the sidewalk and came to a stop in front of a tiny store. There was a huge sign on the front window that read:

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS SALE! 10% OFF ON ALL CDs AND CD PLAYERS!

Anubis looked at Sekhmet's Christmas list. _Yup. That's what he wants all right. A CD player. _Anubis pushed open the door; the bell that was attached rang merrily. It startled Anubis almost into jumping. _I've got to calm down. The mortals think I'm just another normal person like them. I have to be convincing._ Anubis squared his shoulders and walked in. There was music blasting from about twenty different speakers throughout the tiny store. Anubis's ears pounded as he looked at the store in wonderment. For such a tiny front, it stretched back a long way. From wall to wall there were cases of… things. Little square-shaped cases lined the walls. Anubis looked carefully at them. They were classified strangely as things like "Pop", "Country", and "Rock". Anubis scratched his head. _How can a rock be in that tiny case? _Suddenly he jumped as a girl walked up to him. She was wearing leather pants along with entirely black makeup, shirt, and knee-high black boots. Anubis shuddered inside. _She's scarier than Talpa! _She was chewing something pink and sticky, occasionally blowing a big wad of it into a bubble. _Hmm,_ Anubis thought. _I'll bet Dais would like something like that._ He silently made a mental note to find out what it was. She interrupted his thoughts.

"Can I help you?" She leaned on one leg with her hand on her hip. She impatiently snapped her gum, waiting for him to speak.

"Err… yea. I want to know where the CD players are." Anubis shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like the way she looked; she was creepy. She motioned him to follow her, and he reluctantly did so. Near the back of the store, she pointed to a shelf with really big boxes on it. Anubis waited for her to leave before examining the boxes more carefully. On one it read:

LBT-X34002. 3 CD CHANGER. MEGA BASS.

__

Hmm, Anubis thought. _That must be good. Mega Bass? Umm, as long as it's on sale, it can't hurt._ Anubis hefted the box off the shelf. _How can a hunk of wires weigh so much?_ Anubis walked over to the desk, with some difficulty, seeing as how he was unable to look directly in front of himself. He dropped the box on the cash register. The man behind it picked up a funny little gadget and zapped this sticker on the box. There was a thin red line that appeared over the sticker and it made a funny beeping noise. Anubis looked at the little gadget. _How did he do that? _Now the man turned to press some colored buttons on a machine. While his back was turned, Anubis picked up the gadget. There was a trigger on it-but what came out of the thing that made the beeping noise? He turned the opening to his face and pressed the trigger. The blinding red light flashed straight in his eyes. _OW!_ He shrieked silently. His eyes hurt as he carefully placed the gadget back on the desk. The man turned to him and asked for payment. Anubis sighed and handed some money over. The man carefully counted it.

"Uh, excuse me sir, you're twenty dollars short." Anubis handed over another bill. As soon as the man told him to "Have a nice day" Anubis bolted out of the store. _That place was very strange! Disturbingly so._ He then decided to bring the CD player to the abandoned apartment where he had first entered the mortal world. _That's probably the best place to hide it while I finish my 'shopping'._ So he carefully slipped into the alley directly behind the store. He prepared to teleport himself to the apartment. Just as he was departing, he thought he noticed someone watching. And that someone seemed familiar…

* * *

Dais breathed a sigh of relief. _Thank the Gods that Anubis didn't see me!_ He then scratched his head. _Hmm, wonder what Anubis was carrying… Well, I suppose I'll find out soon enough. Now…_ Dais frowned in concentration. _Sekhmet wanted to buy him…_ Dais couldn't remember what it had been called. He snapped his fingers when it came to him. _A VCR! That's what he wanted! So he could watch Gundam Wing, or whatever that stupid show is._ Dais smiled to himself, proud that he had remembered.

He stepped out of the alley, looking around. He was wearing a disguise. He was pretty sure the mortals wouldn't respond favorably to long, pale blue-gray hair, or an eye patch. He had cleverly worn sunglasses, and created an illusion for his hair. It was now black. Dais read the sign above the door Anubis had come out of.

ELECTRONIC STUFF

__

Creative name! Dais sneered. _I could've come up with something better than THAT!_ Dais sauntered in. _Well, electronic stuff covers VCRs, so I'm all set! _A teenage girl walked up to him, dressed all in black and snapping pink, chewy, sticky stuff. "Can I help you?" _HEY COOL!_ Dais had an urge to ask her what the pink stuff was. _Pink's my favorite color!_ He thought excitedly. _And sticky stuff is WAY AWESOME!_ He could hardly keep himself from shouting out. She stood waiting for him to answer.

"CAN I HELP YOU?" She shouted, thinking he hadn't heard her. He jumped, and gave her a smoldering glare. But she didn't flinch; she just kept chewing.

"Do you have any VCRs?" He asked. The girl nodded and waved him over to a side shelf. He followed hesitantly. She pointed to the shelf and left. Dais looked at the boxes. They all seemed the same to him. He picked up the first one he saw and carried it to the cash register.

* * *

Kento sighed. He always got stuck buying Sage's presents. _They just want to punish me for asking about the food… there isn't even a fast food place on this block!_ His unhappy face turned to Electronic Stuff, where he was supposed to buy some meditation music for Sage. _As if he hasn't got enough already! _Kento rolled his eyes. As he walked in, he heard someone speaking and that voice… it was very familiar. Kento was sure he had heard it before. _But where?_ Kento searched for the face that went along with the voice. It was a man wearing sunglasses with long black hair. Kento's mouth dropped open as it suddenly clicked. _That's Dais! I'd stake my life on it! But… what's he doing here?_ Kento immediately became suspicious. _No doubt he's up to something. I'm going to make it my business to find out what!_ Kento waited until the "Dais" had paid and was about to leave. He stepped in front of the "Dais".

"Excuse me, do I know you?" Kento stood, watching "Dais" carefully.

"No, no you don't." 'Dais' attempted to continue walking, but Kento blocked his way again.

"I recognize your voice, and your face is familiar." Kento persisted. "Dais" frowned and pulled Kento outside. No one was paying much attention to them, so he pulled Kento into the nearest alley. Once safe from the view of everyone, "Dais" took off his sunglasses, revealing an icy blue eye and a patch. The illusion of black hair disappeared and the real Dais came out.

"Kento of the Hardrock… it's difficult to recognize you without your armor." Dais sneered.

"I could say the same for you." Kento growled. "And what are you doing here, anyway? Nothing but trouble, I'll bet." Dais frowned.

"It's none of your business, now is it, Ronin?" It was Kento's turn to frown.

"When a Warlord is sticking his ugly face in one of our cities, l make it my business." Dais put one step forward, preparing to fight.

"It doesn't concern you, so get lost." Dais's eye narrowed as Kento put one step forward.

"I don't even need my sub-armor to beat you into a bloody pulp; so don't tempt me." Kento's eyes narrowed. In a split second, they each had a hand at each other's throats. They would have choked each other to death if Sekhmet hadn't suddenly appeared.

"Hey Dais, hurry-" His eyes slowly took in the two choking each other. "Oh, I guess you're busy, never mind." He slowly backed away as he saw the fire and hatred in both of their eyes. "I better be going now…" He grinned sheepishly and put his hands up, indicating he didn't want to get involved. But before he could leave, Kento suddenly cried out.

"CYE! HEY, CYE!" He began struggling to get out of Dais's grasp. But Dais just closed his hand tighter. "CYYYYE!" The two warlords were confused. Why was he drawing attention to them? Sekhmet wasn't even wearing a disguise! Everyone would know that they weren't people, and then they couldn't go shopping!

Kento cried out once more. Cye, who had just walked by the alley without thinking to look in, stopped and poked his head back to see what was going on. He saw Kento and Dais going at it, with a hand at each other's throats. Cye laughed. _They look so ridiculous!_ He thought to himself. _What in the world are they doing?_ Kento's face was relieved.

"Cye, help me out here!" Kento's face was beginning to turn red, and it was getting harder to breathe. Cye immediately went to help, but Sekhmet suddenly appeared in front of the tiny Ronin. Sekhmet's beady eyes stared down at him, blocking him from helping Kento.

"Cye of the Torrent… it's difficult to recognize you without your armor." Sekhmet sneered.

"I could say the same for you." Cye growled. "And what are you doing here, anyway? Nothing but trouble, I'll bet." Sekhmet frowned.

Kento and Dais looked at each other. Kento asked.

"Is it just me or does this sound vaguely familiar?" Dais shrugged.

"Yea, it does, a little bit." They looked quizzically at the two. They shrugged in unison and went back to choking each other.

"It's none of your business, now is it, Ronin?" Sekhmet was saying. It was Cye's turn to frown.

"When a Warlord is sticking his ugly face in one of our cities, l make it my business." Cye retorted. Sekhmet stepped forward, preparing to fight.

"It doesn't concern you, so get lost." Sekhmet's eyes narrowed as Cye put one step forward.

"Even without my sub-armor I could beat you into a bloody pulp; so don't tempt me." Cye's eyes narrowed. In a split-second they were at each other's throats, trying to choke one another. Kento and Dais were continuing their choking match as well. This might have gone on forever if Ryo hadn't suddenly run by.

"RYO! RYYYYYOOOO!" Cye cried out. As Ryo flew past, he waved his hand.

"Sorry guys, can't stop now, I'm way late! They're gonna kill me!" As soon as he had appeared, he was gone. Cye and Kento looked at each other.

"LATE?!" Then it hit them. "MIA!" Kento shuddered.

"Sorry, guys, we've got to go." Kento tried unsuccessfully to pull out of Dais's grasp. "Mia needs the car later and if we aren't there, she'll have a fit and we're dead!"

"Yea," Cye added. "You know how women are." Sekhmet and Dais looked at each other.

"Oh, we know how women are alright, we've got Lady Kayura!" Dais said. "But I don't think that's a good enough reason to let you go." Sekhmet nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Kale appeared next to Sekhmet. He whacked him on the side of the head, hard.

"Owww!" Sekhmet whined. "What'd ya do that for?" His large, beady eyes were welling up with tears. Kale shouted.

"YOU STILL HAVEN'T TOLD DAIS?!" Sekhmet shrunk back from Kale's hostility. He managed a tiny,

"No." Kale's face turned red.

"You haven't told Dais?! About the candy?" Sekhmet shook his head. Kale started growling. 

"Guess I can't rely on HIM anymore." Kale shot Sekhmet an evil look. He turned to Dais. "Well, what Sekhmet was SUPPOSED to tell you was, we want some of the candy that Anubis brought back that other time. So don't forget to get some. And now, since SOMEONE was too STUPID to tell you immediately when they came about that, Anubis will be back in an hour, so GET MOVING!" Kale disappeared before anyone could say anything. Dais and Sekhmet looked at each other, both very frightened.

"Uh, I better get going then." Dais said.

"Yea, me too." Sekhmet laughed nervously. Kento and Cye just stood there, very, very, very confused. Then they remembered Mia, and answered,

"Yea, us too." Sekhmet disappeared and Cye ran off. Dais and Kento were left glaring at each other.

"This isn't over yet, Ronin." Dais dissolved into blackness.

"You're right--I'm looking forward to ripping your head off." Kento shot back. Then he ran off, anxious to catch up to Cye.

* * *

"What?" Rowen looked at Cye and Kento warily as they repeated what happened, word for word. "You've got to be kiddin' me."

"I SWEAR that's what happened!" Kento insisted. Cye frowned thoughtfully.

"But then… what would the warlords be doing here?" He asked rhetorically.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sage shrugged.

"But I've got a guess that makes sense," Rowen snapped his fingers. "They were talking about candy, right?"

"Yea…" Kento murmured. "Food…"

"Well," Sage picked up, beginning to understand what Rowen was saying. "They plan on using the candy to…"

"TAKE OVER THE WORLD!" Ryo suddenly shouted. "BEFORE ANUBIS GETS BACK!" Cye jumped up.

"That's it! They're going to poison all the candy factories-"

"Where they make all that delicious food! -" Kento interrupted.

"And turn all the boys and girls evil-" Sage interrupted.

"AND DO YOU GUYS REALIZE THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE?!" Rowen cried out above the hubbub.

"Of course it does!" Ryo stubbornly insisted. Rowen shook his head and sighed. Sage added,

"Yea, Rowen. Let's face it, that's a perfect way of making everyone turn evil. And that's just what the Dynasty would want. Then they could get enough energy to open a Dynasty gateway into our world."

"AND THEN TALPA WOULD BE BACK!" Ryo cried out hysterically. "WE'VE GOT TO GET TO HIM FIRST!" Ryo pulled on Rowen's arm. "WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? LET'S GO!" Rowen tugged away from him.

"Have you guys completely lost it? HOW could they turn people evil with CANDY?!" Sage gave Rowen a suspicious glare.

"Never underestimate the Evil Dynasty! They're capable of anything!" Rowen was beginning to get frightened. Suddenly, something hit his head, really hard…

Rowen opened his eyes.

"Huh? What's going on?" Sage was bent over him.

"Are you ok? You fell asleep on the couch and…" Sage looked at Rowen's head cautiously. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yea, I'm fine." Sage suddenly looked towards the kitchen.

"Hey, I didn't want to wake you up from your beauty sleep, but… I thought you'd like to know that Kento, Cye and Ryo are back." Rowen suddenly tensed up.

"Really?"

"Yea, and the weirdest thing happened. Kento and Cye were fighting the Warlords!" Rowen's eyes popped out in shock. "But better yet..." Sage whispered. "They ran away when Kale came and mentioned the word 'CANDY'!"

Rowen smacked himself on the side of the head, which was slightly fuzzy, since he just woke up. _What was I dreaming about? I can't quite remember … there was something about candy. Hmm… Wait! That must be it! The Ancient One was trying to warn me that Talpa's going to take over the world by using CANDY! But that's ridiculous._ Rowen shook his head, trying to think clearly. _It was definitely about candy, though… and the Ancient…I've got to tell the others…_

Rowen could overhear Cye wondering aloud, " But then… what would the warlords be doing here?"

* * *

Kale sat happily on the sofa. The decorations he had spent all afternoon putting up were done. _And,_ he admitted quite proudly, _they look fantastic_.

Anubis had assigned Sekhmet and Kale to the decoration committee before he left. Sekhmet had spent most of the afternoon running back and forth from the mortal world for things Kale needed. Kale had stayed and put up the decorations, as well as determining the "menu" of junk food for their little party. The room was completely white, Kale painted the formerly drab, gray stones and placed fake white snow on the floor. It was at least an inch deep, so the stones wouldn't show at all. Kale leaned back still admiring his work. Sekhmet had even managed to buy a Christmas tree, a silver, sparkly one. Kale hadn't really liked it at first, but Sekhmet had insisted that it was the prettiest left. Kale had put some fake snow on the tree too, just to make it look more like the outdoors.

While Sekhmet was SUPPOSED to be telling Dais to get more candy canes, Kale had scrounged through the castle, looking for candles. This was a very precarious job, especially if Talpa decided to interrupt his search. But Sekhmet and Dais had silently agreed to leave this job to Kale, only because if Talpa were to discover what was going on, Kale would be stupid enough to get himself out of it.

There were over thirty candles lighting up the room, giving it a dreamlike glow. The only window in the room had been covered, so the sentries posted outside the castle would not see what was going on. Kale had been afraid that they would want to join the fun, and since they were so clumsy, they would ruin all his hard work.

Now the preparations were complete. Kale sat, waiting expectantly for Sekhmet to return. He was stalling Anubis, making sure Dais came in first. Dais hadn't been seen for an hour, which made Sekhmet very, very nervous. Kale on the other hand, hadn't been worried at all. He was confident Dais would show up on time. He wouldn't have the nerve to be late when it was this important.

Almost as if to respond to Kale's thoughts, Dais slammed open the door, the gust nearly blowing out the candles. He was breathing heavily and holding a shopping bag. Kale waited until he had caught his breath before asking,

"Whatcha got in there?" Dais set the bag on the ground and looked around the room.

"It's the candy." Dais panted. Kale shouted with joy. But Dais continued, "By the way you did a real nice-" He was cut short when he realized Kale wasn't listening. He was too busy hugging the box of candy canes Dais had brought. Dais sighed and shook his head.

"Is Sekhmet here yet?" Kale shook his head. "He's busy keeping Anubis busy so you had time to come back-" Kale stopped when he heard voices in the hallway. The door to the room opened.

"Here it is Anubis!" Sekhmet said proudly. Anubis looked around in awe. _It looks like… what do the mortals call it? A winter wonderland!_ He felt as though he had just stepped into a dream world. But Dais interrupted his thoughts.

"Here Anubis… from me." Dais didn't look directly at Anubis as he handed over his gift. _Probably embarrassed._ Anubis smiled and took the gift. He then rummaged through the bag beside him and pulled out a package.

"Here, Dais." Anubis grinned good-naturedly. "From me." Dais looked at it, curiously.

"Well, what is it?" There were little pink bubbles on the front wrapper and two words: BUBBLE GUM. "What's Bubble Gum?" Anubis took the package back and opened it, revealing a tiny pink cube.

"You chew it." Anubis said. "And if you're really good, you can blow bubbles with it. But be careful, because it's sticky." Dais's face lit up.

"Wow… pink and sticky… I LOVE IT!" He popped several pieces into his mouth and began chewing noisily. "Mmm… tastes good!" He sat down on the powdery floor to examine it more carefully. Anubis was hunting through his bag for more goodies.

"Oh, here we go!" He said triumphantly as he pulled out a monstrously large box. "Found it! Here Sekhmet this is for you." He handed it over to Sekhmet who started shouting with delight.

"A CD PLAYER! AWESOME!" Dais laughed from where he sat on the floor.

"Yea, now if only you were smart enough to use it!" Sekhmet didn't hear him; he was too busy admiring his present. Anubis was rummaging some more, and found one of Kale's presents.

"Here, Kale-this is for you." He threw it over to Kale, who was sitting on the couch, hugging the candy cane box. Kale examined it carefully, one hand still around the candy canes.

"It's a night-light, Demon of Darkness." Anubis grinned, suppressing laughter. Kale frowned.

"Haha, very funny." He hugged the candy cane box closer. Dais and Sekhmet were snickering when suddenly, there was a loud bang.

"What was that?" Anubis asked, alarmed. Dais, Sekhmet, and Kale sat very still, listening intently.

"There it is again!" Dais said. He was beginning to get worried. 

"I'll bet it's Talpa!" Sekhmet whimpered. The warlords were silent. Suddenly, the wall started to glow. It got brighter and brighter. Kale shielded his eyes. On the other side of the wall, he heard,

"THUNDERBOLT CUT!"

"AHHHHH! IT'S THE RONINS!" Sekhmet cried out, before the blast of light cut the wall. Sage stood breathing heavily in the opening his attack had created. He stepped back, revealing an angry Ryo in the Inferno Armor. Suddenly, Kento pushed him aside and charged at Dais.

"Let's finish what we started." Kento grimly attempted to choke Dais.

"It'll only end in defeat, Ronin." Dais answered, choking Kento. Ryo rolled his eyes.

"We don't have time for this! We have to get to Talpa before it's too late!" The other Ronins nodded. "RAGE…OF…INFERNOOOOO!" Ryo cried out. Anubis shrieked; Sekhmet began to cry, and Kale shielded his candy canes. Dais and Kento paid no attention whatsoever to the others as they privately dueled. The power of the Inferno Armor flashed through the room, blinding everyone, even Ryo. When the light dissolved into blackness, Ryo looked around.

The room was back to black. The paint on the walls had been charred, and had fallen off with the intense heat. The Christmas tree was a melted pile of plastic, which smelled nasty. The 'snow' on the ground was blackened and scorched, and all piled on the opposite side of the wall from the intensity of the blast. Kale cautiously opened one eye.

"THE DECORATIONS!" He cried out. "Nooooo!" Just as he was about to mourn the loss of the Christmas tree, he realized that the candy canes where still in one piece. "YES!" He shouted. "The candy is safe!" Sekhmet opened his eyes.

"NOO!" He cried. "MY CD PLAYER!" Now it was the Ronins turn to be startled.

"A CD player?" Rowen wondered aloud, confused. "What's he doing with a CD player?" Anubis had finally picked himself up off the scorched floor and was holding a burnt mess, which had formerly been his presents.

"Nooooo!" He howled. "Nooooo, how could you?! You vile, low, vulgar, nasty meanies!" Anubis began to sniffle. Rowen and Cye look at each other, both very disturbed.

"Now I'm really confused." Rowen frowned in concentration. Anubis's sniffling had turned to growls, getting louder and louder by the second. Sage and Cye instinctively stepped back. Anubis was now standing and looking at them, the fire in his eyes now at its maximum.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" He repeated, only on a louder level. "ALL THAT TIME…EFFORT…WASTED… " He gritted his teeth. "ONLY TO BE SPOILED BY A BUNCH OF BOYS?!" Anubis was so furious he charged Ryo, even without his armor on. Ryo stepped back.

"YOU RUINED OUR VACATION!" Anubis was now screaming like one possessed. "YOU RUINED OUR PARTY!" Ryo's mouth dropped.

"Party?!" They shouted in unison. But Anubis continued.

"NOW I'M GONNA RUIN YOUR LIFE YOU MISERABLE LITTLE *******!" Cye's mouth dropped open.

"That's not nice!" Cye protested. Anubis, however, clearly did not care as he swiped at Ryo's face. Even Ryo, in the Inferno armor, knew he should not fight back. _This was all just a big mistake!_ He kept thinking. _If only I hadn't listened to Rowen's dream…but that was the Ancient…_ Suddenly Ryo remembered the Rowen had been sick the past few days, and more likely than not, he had just been hallucinating! _But the coincidence is unbelievable! _Ryo shook his head clear.

"Come on, guys. We gotta get out of here!" Ryo yelled. Sage added in agreement,

"Yea, we shouldn't have crashed your party. Sorry guys." Anubis was practically frothing at the mouth by now. Cye reached out and grabbed Kento, pulling him away from Dais.

"Let's… go…" Cye struggled to keep Kento from going back to fight Dais some more. "There's some food in the fridge-" Cye hardly had the words out of his mouth before Kento bolted past him to go back home. Cye made a hasty retreat, leaving the warlords to mourn their loss.

However, they didn't have much of an opportunity of doing that, for as soon as the Ronins had left, Talpa called them into his throne room.

"WARLORDS!" His voice boomed throughout the castle. They all bowed dejectedly. "What do you have to say about the attack on my castle just now?" His eyes were glowing dangerously. But no one spoke up, not even Anubis. Talpa roared.

"WELL? You have nothing to say? About your pitiful performance?" But no one responded; they all stood with their heads bowed. Talpa was now getting angry. NO ONE ignored him!

"I'm taking away your vacation! I'm tired of your insubordination! You'll be back to work tomorrow!" But still, they did not respond. Finally after a moment of silence, Anubis burst into tears.

"They ruined our party!" He sobbed. Talpa growled.

"Party? What party?" He asked. Sekhmet joined in the crying as he said,

"We were having a Christmas party… and… and… WAHHHH!" Dais began to sniffle.

"They ruined all our presents and decorations…" He broke down in tears. Talpa roared.

"YOU, MY VERY OWN WARLORDS, ARE CRYING ABOUT A PARTY?!" But the warlords kept on crying, except for Kale who was happily eating a candy cane. Talpa sniffled. "And you didn't invite me… I'm crushed!" His floating head disappeared. Kale looked around at everyone crying. He cracked a smile.

"Cheer up guys, the candy canes survived!" The other warlords stopped crying for a moment to look at him.

"C-candy canes?" Dais's lip quivered. Kale nodded happily.

"Yup! I saved them from the Ronins!"

"They're from the party…" Anubis whispered. "WAHH!" All the warlords started to cry again. Kale thought to himself with a sigh, _This is gonna be a loooong day._


End file.
